When is lager done?

[beersydoesit]

My first lager has been in the secondary about three weeks. The gravity has been 1.10 for about a week. Tastes great. But it still produces a considerable head when I draw a sample. If the gravity is stable how do I know when to bottle? Thanks

 

[Yooper]

Are you lagering this beer? I always lager after secondary, bringing the temperature done to 34 degrees for 8 weeks or so before bottling or kegging.

What was the OG, and what is the recipe? What yeast did you use?

 

[Fingers]

You mean 1.01, right?

Lagers need to age at a fairly low temperature. Because it's so much cooler, aging takes longer. The length is determined by the starting gravity of the brew, personal taste, and patience. You can age in the bottle or the carboy. If you've had a stable gravity of 1.01 for at least three days you can go ahead and bottle and age in the bottle. As to when you can drink it, that's up to you. I tend to let my lagers cold condition for at least three months.

 

[beersydoesit]

OF was 1.42, gravity when I transferee to secondary was 1.14. Yes I'm lagering. The recipe is Rocky Racoon from The Joy Of Homebrewing. I used Wyeast Bavarian Lager yeast. It has been at about 35 degrees for three weeks. Temperature control is not perfect, that is something to work on.

 

[beersydoesit]

Oops yes, 1.01

 

[Fingers]

That's a fairly low gravity so your conditioning time doesn't have to be all that long. I'd leave it to bulk condition for another three to four weeks, bring it up to fermentation temps, bottle, let it sit at fermentation temps to carbonate, then back to lager temps.

 

[beersydoesit]

My worry is all that foam in my sampling cylinder. Can I ignore that with a stable and low gravity?

 

[Yooper]

Yes. It's foamy because at cold temperatures, co2 is trapped in the solution. So, it's almost carbonated appearing but it's finished.

Taste the lager, and see how it is. If you haven't done a diacetyl rest, see if you can detect any. It's a taste of butter or butterscotch, or a slickness on your tongue. If you don't have any diacetyl, then you should be all set.

When I make lagers, the FG is reached before I lower the temperature for lagering. I'm not sure how you went about this, but I'm surprised that it's still fermenting in the 30s. I would have thought that fermentation would stall at low temperatures like that.

 

[beersydoesit]

Ignorance mostly.
I moved to secondary more or less as I would for ale.
I have been relying on The Joy Of Homebrewing which says once the secondar won't need a blowoff it is time to transfer. I waited a little longer because I didn't have much time Then I moved it to lager at the same time.
Tastes good though.

 

[beersydoesit]

If it is done prior to lagering,do I wait for a stable gravity too?

 

[Yooper]

Yes, in primary I like to wait until it's about 75% done then taste for diacetyl. If I need a diacetyl rest, I raise the temperature to 62 or so at that time. After the diacetyl rest, I rack and then begin to slowly lower the temperature 5 degrees per day. It should be at FG before racking, whether a diacetyl rest is done or not. A diacetyl rest is best done on the yeast cake, since it's the function of the yeast that cleans it up.

Still, you made a lager, and it's at FG and it tastes great- so you obviously did it correctly. Just goes to show you that we can all do things a bit differently and still make it "correctly". It sounds like a good beer!

 

[beersydoesit]

Thanks
This site is the best.